


Little Girl Found

by flipflop_diva



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Forbidden Love, Luke and Rey Are Not Related, Post-Canon, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-25
Updated: 2018-11-25
Packaged: 2019-08-28 23:29:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,028
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16732704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flipflop_diva/pseuds/flipflop_diva
Summary: He stared down at the tiny baby sucking on her fingers, her big brown eyes staring up at him like she knew what he was here for.He turned to his sister. “I can’t take care of a child.”“Yes, you can,” Leia replied. “You have to.”





	Little Girl Found

He stared down at the tiny baby sucking on her fingers, her big brown eyes staring up at him like she knew what he was here for.

He turned to his sister. “I can’t take care of a child.”

“Yes, you can,” Leia replied. “You have to.”

“You could take her, raise her with Ben.”

“That’s not what is supposed to happen.”

“Just because Yoda said …”

“You have to raise this child, Luke. She’s special. She needs you. The future depends on it.”

“What if I’m not up to it?”

“You are,” Leia said, watching as the baby curled her tiny fingers around Luke’s thumb. “I’m sure of it.”

•••

The lightsaber was almost bigger than she was. She held on to it with both hands. A grin spread across her face.

She swung, spinning herself in a circle as the green light soared through the air.

He laughed as she laughed, reaching out to stop her from toppling over. 

She was only five but he could see the Force in her already. He had seen it from the beginning, as she lay in her makeshift crib waving her hands, bits of stone and rock almost dancing beside her. And he saw it now, as she twirled, the weapon almost a part of her.

He reached down, picked up his own lightsaber.

“Let me show you, little one,” he said, and she grinned up at him, love and adoration in her eyes and he felt a lump in his throat he didn’t know how to explain.

•••

The ten-year-old stared out at the deserted landscape, the lightsaber lying discarded at her feet.

“He’s not coming back, is he?” she asked, looking up at the woman she only knew as her aunt.

“I don’t think so, my child,” the woman said softly. “But someday you will find him.”

“How do you know?” the little girl asked.

“There are some things you just know,” the woman said, and she placed a hand on the girl’s arm, both of them staring out into space, wondering where the man who loved them both had gone.

•••

They stood together, the nineteen-year-old girl and the woman who had raised her, watching as the far distant planet exploded, sending bursts of light throughout the galaxy.

“What now?” the girl asked. “This isn’t the end.”

“No,” Leia answered. “It’s the beginning. And it’s time.” She turned to Rey. “You know what you have to do.”

“What makes you think I can get him to come back with me?”

“You’re the only one who can.”

“What makes you think he wants to see me?”

“Because he loves you,” Leia answered, as if it were as simple as that. “It’s the one thing that has never changed.”

•••

It took days to get there, days spent alone in her pod with ample time to think, to remember. The memories weren’t as clear anymore as they used to be, but she remembered enough.

She remembered days and nights full of training. She remembered learning how to use the lightsaber, learning how to hone her instincts, learning how to get the Force to work for her.

She had learned more since then, but she still had a long way to go. She wondered, as she closed the miles between him and her, if he would still want to train her, if he would still be proud of her.

“You are going to be special,” he told her once.

She wondered, for the thousandth time, if he still felt that way.

•••

She found him on top of the cliff, standing there serenely, looking down at the oceans below, almost like he had been waiting for her for ages.

She took her time climbing up the rocks, each step full of more anticipation and nerves than the one before. The lightsaber he had left behind was in her hand, and she gripped it tightly as she climbed, until she was safely at the top, just feet away from him.

Slowly, she reached out her hand, the lightsaber balanced in it.

He turned around from where he was watching the ocean to look at her, as though he could sense her presence behind him. She thought he might smile, but there was only sadness in his eyes.

“You shouldn’t have come,” he said, ignoring her outstretched hand.

“We’ve been trying to find you for a long time,” she said, adding, “I need you.”

“You’ve never needed me.”

“I’ve always needed you.”

•••

She was stubborn. So was he. But she was more so. He stayed in his hut. She kept knocking. He told her to leave. She didn’t. She asked him to train her. He said no. She practiced anyway. Every day. Every hour.

“You shouldn’t be here,” he said over and over.

“But I am,” she would answer, every time.

He began to give in, little by little. Watching her fight, watching her skill. Offering a tip here and there. Sometimes he would sit on the cliff, let her sit beside him, both of them staring out at the horizon.

“Do you still think I’m special?” she asked one night. “You used to tell me I was.”

He looked at her, really looked at her for the first time. “You already know the answer to that.”

•••

She slept soundly. He sat beside her, watching her breathe.

Leia had told him, nine years ago, not to leave, that it wasn’t wrong.

“I love her,” he’d said then. “And not how a father should love a daughter.”

“You take care of her,” Leia had said. “She loves you too.”

She was older now, though. No longer a child. He was no longer her father. He hadn’t been for a long time. But the feelings hadn’t changed.

She opened her eyes, saw him watching, reached out her hand to take his.

“I was supposed to be your father,” he said quietly.

“Maybe that’s not what you were supposed to be,” she said.

He kissed her then, tenderly, gently, on the forehand. She squeezed his hand in hers. 

“We’ll figure it out,” she said.

“Yeah,” he said, and he couldn’t help the small smile spreading across his face. “We will.”


End file.
